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366 J.HandmerandJ.Nalau
andDamage in thePacificSmall IslandDevelopingStates (SIDS).1 It alsoprovides
a commentary regarding the risk andoptions space in aPacificSIDScontextwhere
manyofthelivelihoodactivitiesaresubsistence-based,reliantonthecurrentclimate,
and seriously disrupted by extreme weather events. We use the case of Tropical
CyclonePamthat hitVanuatu inMarch2015, thefirst recordedcategory5cyclone
in the country, to illustrate someof thepoints of this global debate. Indoing sowe
take the climate risk and adaptation capacity analysis in IPCC’s fifth assessment
report (AR5) toanother levelofdetail (for thechapteron theSIDS, seeNurseet al.
2014).
Oneof theconceptual frameworks to illustrateLossandDamage(L&D)as inte-
gratedintoaclimateriskmanagementframeworkhasbeenproposedbyMechlerand
Schinko (2016) drawing onNurse et al. (2014) andUNFCCC(2015). This frame-
workhasbeenapplied to thegroupofSIDSglobally (see chapter bySchinkoet al.
2018). It focusesoncurrent riskexposureand future risk scenarioswhere the intol-
erable risk space is seen as being relevant already today and becoming evenmore
critical in themedium to longer term (2030–40 and 2080–2100).We discuss how
for somePacificSIDS, there are already caseswhere communities find themselves
impactedbyintolerableclimate-relatedrisk,andwheretheriskmanagementoptions
suggested in thegraphicarealreadybeingdeployed (seeFig.15.2).
MechlerandSchinko’sargument is forabroad-basedriskmanagementapproach
including both ‘standard’ and transformativeDRR (Disaster Risk Reduction) and
CCA(ClimateChangeAdaptation)actionsaswellasoptions.Under theirapproach,
support, including funding, would be allocated on the basis of current needs for
dealingwithclimatevariabilityandchange,aswellasattributionof lossesanddam-
ages to anthropogenic climate change.At the global level attribution, for example
in regards to sea level rise, canbequantifiedathigh levelsof confidence (see IPCC
2014). However, in the Pacific Island countries observed change is amix of both
globalaswellas localenvironmentalchanges,decliningcropyieldandfishresource
reliability,aswellasdemographicandsocio-economicfactors. Inthesecountrycon-
texts, theoptionsspacemayalsobeveryconstrained,asmanypeopleinPacificSIDS
have subsistence or semi-subsistence livelihoods, and national economies are very
narrowlybased.For example, themajorityofPacificSIDSbase their economieson
tourismandforeignaid(KuruppuandWillie2015).However, transformativeaction
mightbepossibleandisoccurringslowlyforexamplethroughmigratingortravelling
to takeseasonalworkelsewhere, and through remittances.
15.1.1 TheSouth-WestPacific
TheSouth-West Pacific region (see Fig. 15.1 on the South Pacific) is increasingly
recognisedasthemostimmediatelyvulnerableregiontopotentialmassmigrationand
relocationduetoclimatechangeimpacts(Campbell2008;McAdam2012;Weirand
1Where the termSIDSisused it ismostly referring toPacificSmall IslandDevelopingStates.
Loss and Damage from Climate Change
Concepts, Methods and Policy Options
- Title
- Loss and Damage from Climate Change
- Subtitle
- Concepts, Methods and Policy Options
- Authors
- Reinhard Mechler
- Laurens M. Bouwer
- Thomas Schinko
- Swenja Surminski
- JoAnne Linnerooth-Bayer
- Publisher
- Springer Open
- Date
- 2019
- Language
- English
- License
- CC BY 4.0
- ISBN
- 978-3-319-72026-5
- Size
- 16.0 x 24.0 cm
- Pages
- 580
- Keywords
- Environment, Climate change, Environmental law, Environmental policy, Risk management
- Categories
- International
- Naturwissenschaften Umwelt und Klima